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Priestley

...progress required the development of a science-based commerce. This view was reinforced when he moved to become a preacher at the New Meeting House in Birmingham in 1780 and became a member of the
Lunar Society, an elite group of local gentlemen, Dissenters, and industrialists (including Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, James Watt, and Matthew Boulton), who applied the principles of science...

Watt

...waterworks. By 1790 Watt was a wealthy man, having received £76,000 in royalties on his patents in 11 years. The steam engine did not absorb all his attention, however. He was a member of the
Lunar Society in Birmingham, a group of writers and scientists who wished to advance the sciences and the arts. Watt experimented on the strength of materials, and he was often involved in legal...

Withering

...They were married on Sept. 12, 1772, and had three children. Seeking a more substantial income, Withering decided to move to Birmingham to fill a vacancy created by the death of physician and
Lunar Society cofounder William Small in 1775. (The
Lunar Society was a gathering of naturalists and inventors who met monthly in the Midlands of England, traveling under the light of the full moon.)...